European Economic
and Social Committee
Federation of European Direct and Interactive Marketing (FEDMA)
Summary of the initiative
The Directive 95/46/EC of 24 October 1995 (Article 27) provides that Member States and the Commission shall encourage the drawing up - at national and Community levels - of codes of conduct intended to contribute to the proper implementation of the Directive.
"Article 27 The Member States and the Commission shall encourage the drawing up of codes of conduct intended to contribute to the proper implementation of the national provisions adopted by the Member States pursuant to this Directive, taking account of the specific features of the various sectors.
Member States shall make provision for trade associations and other bodies representing other categories of controllers which have drawn up draft national codes or which have the intention of amending or extending existing national codes to be able to submit them to the opinion of the national authority.
Member States shall make provision for this authority to ascertain, among other things, whether the drafts submitted to it are in accordance with the national provisions adopted pursuant to this Directive. If it sees fit, the authority shall seek the views of data subjects or their representatives.
Draft Community codes, and amendments or extensions to existing Community codes, may be submitted to the Working Party referred to in Article 29. This Working Party shall determine, among other things, whether the drafts submitted to it are in accordance with the national provisions adopted pursuant to this Directive. If it sees fit, the authority shall seek the views of data subjects or their representatives. The Commission may ensure appropriate publicity for the codes which have been approved by the Working Party."
Seven years of negotiations between FEDMA and the Working Party (set in accordance with Article 29 of the Directive 95/46/EC of 24 October 1995) finally led to the introduction of the Code. The code of practice adopted in 2003 represents an interpretation of the European Data Protection Directive in terms designed to be understood by direct marketers; in some areas of the Directive, where practice already goes beyond the level set by the Directive - or where FEDMA recommends that it should - such higher standards of practice are incorporated. The topics addressed in the code include: Obtaining personal data; Responsibilities of the data controller; Dealing with data subjects' requests; Preference services systems (suppression system); Transfer of data to non-EU countries.
Description of the Initiative
Sector
Sector
Self/Co-Regulation Basic Act
Self/Co-Regulation Basic Act
Geographical Coverage
Geographical Coverage
Description
Description
Conduct an initial survey of compliance capacity of future regulatees | Conduct regular visits and spot checks | Initiate complaints procedures | Maintain database of those bounded by the norms | Produce regular reports | Receive complaints and verify if norms were breached or not | Reflexive dialogue with the - stakeholders | Other | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
European Commission | yes | |||||||
National public authority | ||||||||
International public authority | ||||||||
Private regulator (code owner) | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | |||
Private independent party with a mandate (e.g. auditors) | ||||||||
Self-appointed private parties (e.g. NGOs) |
Faming, shaming and blaming | Judicial sanctions | Membership suspension/exclusion | Private fines | Other | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Private Regulator | |||||
Private independent party with a mandate (e.g. auditors) | yes | ||||
Court system | |||||
Alternative dispute resolution (ADR) / Online dispute resolution (ODR) |
7. 2. 1 National Direct Marketing Associations should establish a procedure to solve any complaints that may arise from the application of this Code at national level.
7. 2. 2 National Direct Marketing Associations should nominate a person within the association responsible to handle the complaints and to act as the contact person for FEDMA. The name of this person should be communicated to the relevant Data Protection authority.
7. 2. 3 If a national Direct Marketing Association is unable to solve a complaint from a Data Subject due to its cross-border aspects, it should refer the matter to FEDMA, which should nominate a person within the Federation responsible for the resolution of complaints.
7. 2. 4 The national DMAs should co-operate as much as possible with their national data protection authorities.
7. 2. 5 FEDMA will also co-operate with other relevant organisations and government bodies.
Contravention of the principles
7. 3. 1 Any contravention of this Code by FEDMA members would be brought to the FEDMA Data Protection Committee for consideration. The Data Protection Committee, taking due regard to the type of contravention, may decide to recommend to the FEDMA Board the expulsion of the member or other sanctions, according to its rules of procedure.
7. 3. 2 FEDMA may consider the possibility of initiating action against a member or a non-member in order to safeguard the ethics of the profession.
7. 3. 3 The non-compliance with the provisions of this Code may also result in specific legal actions from the national data protection supervisory authorities.
As far as enforcement is concerned, the functions of the Data Protection Committee are: to solve cross-border complaints in co-operation with the IFDMA (International Federation of Direct Marketing Associations) and EASA (European Advertising Standards Alliance); to consider any contravention of the Code.